College Football 2026 Week 8 Top 25 Preview And Picks

College football Week 8 follows one of the bigger Top 25 shakeup in decades as Indiana, Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama and Texas all went down in defeat. The new No. 1 is the Miami Hurricanes, who escaped in overtime as a 20-point favorite over in-state rival Florida State. College football Week 8 ahead on Sat., Oct. 24 offers plenty of additional excitment and drama as the top teams push for a spot in the 12-team CFP with the College Football Playoff expanding to 24 teams starting in the 2027 season as recently announced.

Evaluating this week’s games by the spreads and odds in my college football Week 8 coverage at OSGA shows the games are collectively the closest of the year to this point, by far. As many as 32 of 57 Football Bowl Subdivision (FFS) games have a point spread of 7-points or less at the top online sportsbooks. A majority of the remaining games are 10-15 points spreads with No. 1 Miami (-20) the biggest point spread on the Week 8 college football schedule. The Hurricanes are ranked No. 1 for the first time since Dec. 8, 2002. The No. 2 ranked BYU Cougars have their highest national ranking since 1984, the same year it finished as consensus national champion. Top 5 teams Ohio State, Notre Dame and Georgia all have a bye this week.

It will be tough to duplicate the Week 7 games and results, which saw 14 teams ranked in the Top 25 lose. That included for the first-time ever 5 of the top 7 teams on the same day. Our picks and opinions including totals went 7-2 ATS, and are now 28-13 ATS since Week 4.

So while I’ve chipped in an average of 10 picks and opinions on college football games the past four weeks with coverage of the Top 25 and most watched and wagered games, you can get even more insight, analysis and picks on every game each week from my colleague Case Keefer at the Las Vegas Sun, a sharp handicapper in the media space covering college and pro sports in Las Vegas.

 

 

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Top 25 Games and Week 8 Odds

Betting lines and college football odds from top online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live/in-game betting. Point spread on favorites plus game totals for college football 2026 Week 8 games. All times ET.

Check back by Friday each week and my updates @FairwayJay on X as Fairways Forecast adds additional Picks and Opinions plus any upgrades with select game analysis, stats and information you can bet on for college football 2026 Week 8 games.

Top 25 Games and Week 8 Odds

Betting lines and college football odds from Bookie.ag and their revamped site and menu, plus other top online sportsbooks offering top payouts, refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live/in-game betting. Point spread on favorites plus game totals as of Thursday afternoon. All times ET.

Sat, Oct. 24

– Pittsburgh at No. 1 Miami (-20), 48.5 | 12 pm | ESPN
– No. 2 BYU (-7) at UCF, 42.5 | 3:30 pm | FOX
– No. 3 Ohio State | Bye, next week at USC
– No. 4 Notre Dame | Bye, next week vs. Navy
– No. 5 Georgia | Bye, next week vs. Florida
– No. 6 Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan, 42 | 12 pm | FOX
– No. 7 Ole Miss at No. 19 Texas (-3), 54.5 | 7:30 pm | ABC
– No. 8 Texas Tech (-11) at Cincinnati, 56.5 | 12 pm | FS1
– Michigan State at No. 9 UCLA (-15), 43.5 | 3:30 pm | CBS
– No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah (-6.5), 56.5 | 10:15 pm | ESPN
– No. 11 Tennessee at South Carolina (-2.5), 50.5 | 3:30 pm | ESPN
– Vanderbilt at No. 12 Kentucky (-10.5), 52 | 7:30 pm | SECN
– Texas A&M at No. 13 Alabama (-13.5), 50 | 3:30 pm | ABC
– No. 15 Iowa (-7) at Minnesota, 40.5 | 3:30 pm | FS1
– No. 16 USC (-3) at Wisconsin, 50.5 | 7:30 pm | NBC
– No. 17 Wake Forest | Bye, next week vs. Virginia
– No. 18 LSU (-7) at Auburn, 51 | 12 pm | ABC
– No. 20 Florida | Bye, next week vs. Georgia (neutral)
– No. 21 Boise State (-13.5) at Washington State, 52.5 | 6 pm | USA
– No. 22 Missouri | Bye, next week at Arkansas
– Cal at No. 23 SMU (-19), 55 | 12 pm | CW
– Rutgers at No. 24 Northwestern (-15.5), 59 | 12 pm | Peacock
– Iowa State at No. 25 Arizona (-10), 51 | 7:30 pm | ESPN2
– Colorado at No. 26 Oklahoma State (-13.5), 55 | 7 pm | FS1

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 128, Oregon 79, Auburn 61, James Madison, Mississippi State, New Mexico, Oregon State

Other Week 8 games of interest

– Duke at Virginia (-2), 47 – Friday
– Air Force (-5.5) at Wyoming, 45 – Friday
– NC State (-6.5) at Stanford, 56 – Friday
– Rice at Florida Atlantic (-8.5), 51.5
– West Virginia at TCU (-11), 56
– Western Michigan at Toledo (-3), 46
– Rutgers at Northwestern (-16), 58.5
– Virginia Tech at Clemson (-2.5), 49.5
– Oregon (-9) at Illinois, 50
– Baylor (-3) at Kansas, 53
– Kansas State (-2) at Arizona State, 56
– Boston College at Georgia Tech (-5.5), 50.5
– Bowling Green at Buffalo (-3), 44.5
– Oklahoma (-5.5) at Mississippi State, 45
– North Texas (-2.5) at Navy, 64
– Eastern Michigan at Ohio (-11.5), 48.5
– San Diego State (-2.5) at Colorado State, 61
– Syracuse at North Carolina (-8.5), 47
– North Dakota State at New Mexico (-4), 41

Check out the notable line/spread and total adjustments from Sunday’s Week 8 opening lines and early week betting from Las Vegas and BetOnline. Updated Thursday afternoon.

– Air Force -7.5 to -5.5, Total 43.5 to 45
– NC State -8 to -6.5
– TCU -6.5 to -11, Total 60 to 56.5
– FAU -10.5 to -8.5, Total 58 to 51.5
– Miami -23 to -20, Total 51 to 46.5
– Oregon -10.5 to -9
– C. Michigan -1 to -3, Total 43 to 39.5
– Baylor -1 to -3, Total 55 to 53
– UCLA -14 to -15, Total 46 to 43.5
– Kansas State -3.5 to -2
– BYU/UCF Total 45 to 42.5
– Tennessee Pk to -2.5
– Oklahoma -2.5 to -5.5
– Alabama -16.5 to -13.5
– San Diego State -3 to -1
– USC -1.5 to -3
– North Carolina -10 to -8.5, Total 44 to 47
– Texas State -9.5 to -13.5, Total 59 to 61

Week 8 College Football Picks

All NCAA Football picks posted at OSGA since Week 4 are 28-13.

Top 25

– LSU (-7)

NCAA Football Opinions

Michigan (+7.5)
– Texas (-3)
– Minnesota (+7)
– Central Florida, UCF (+7.5)

Non-Top 25 – Picks and Opinions (P & O)

P – Kansas State (-2)
O – North Dakota State/New Mexico Under 41.5

All stats provided are vs. FBS opponents.

Kansas State rushed for 359 yards in last week’s win over Kansas to move the Wildcats to an average of 225 rushing yards per game – No. 3 Power 4 conference rushing attack in the country. The Wildcats are on our proprietary top teams balanced and efficient offense list. Arizona State’s rushing defense allows 168 yards per game, and K-State just ran over KU’s run defense that was allowing nearly the same into last week. When a team out-rushes an opponent by at least a 2/1 margin as we project in this matchup, it’s a very positive profile to profit, and this line has actually dropped down to Wildcats -2. Arizona State sixth-year senior QB Mikey Keene will make his first start of the season after replacing the INT-prone starter last week.

North Dakota State at New Mexico – Big game in the Mountain West as the Bison (6-1/3-1 Mtn West) and Lobos (5-1/2-0) battle in Albuquerque with the winner in great position to make the Mountain West Championship Game. Both teams are on our top defenses list and this Saturday night showdown should be a struggle for scoring with the total down from 44 to 41 and some 41.5’s still showing. The Lobo’s offense is also among the bottom 5 in FBS for pace and seconds per play (31) with the Bison (29.5 seconds) also bottom 15. The Lobo’s QB miss-mash situation took another hit last week with backup starter James Laubstein lost for the season with a knee injury. Both teams road losses were to better teams with New Mexico losing at Oklahoma 14-6 and holding the Sooners offense to less than 300 yards, and North Dakota State losing to UNLV in Las Vegas 13-7 limiting the Rebels to 255 yards offense.

Eastern Michigan at Ohio – Also a key game in the MAC, where Ohio (5-2/3-0 MAC) sits on top with Western Michigan (5-2/3-0) with Eastern Michigan (4-4/3-1) in the conference championship game chase but still a double-digit underdog. Beyond the stats, Playbook Sports Newsletter points out this incredible stat – Ohio University is 26-1 SU and 19-3 ATS at home since 2022, including 24-0 SU / 17-2 ATS
versus sub .750 opponents

Top 25 Games

Mississippi at Texas – The Longhorns enter off back-to-back 27-24 losses to Oklahoma and Florida. Tipping point for Texas, who is top 3 in NIL spending for football at nearly $50 million (Ole Miss $42M) as one more loss eliminates preseason No. 1 Texas from the 12-team College Football Playoff. Two preseason Heisman favorite QB’s in Trinidad Chambliss and Arch Manning, and I still don’t project Mississippi‘s top-tier offense to eclipse 24 points against a top-tier defense of Texas that makes our defensive dominator list.

Houston at Utah – The betting line has dipped from -7 to -6.5 favoring Utah for the night game in Salt Lake City. The Utes are 6-0 for the first time since 2015. Utah does it with a balanced and efficient offense averaging 35 points per game on 192 rushing and 266 passing at 6.3 yards per pass. Houston‘s defense is deficient allowing 6.0 yards per play following last week’s fortunate win over Oklahoma State (+4’), a Week 7 side and total winner for us. The Utes also feature a top defense allowing just 15 ppg and 319 yards per game on run defense strength (85 ypg). Utah got caught looking ahead to this game last week leading Colorado 13-0 at half and allowing just 72 yards before holding on for a 27-24 win with the Buffs gaining 274 after halftime. We cashed in last week side and total on ‘Dog Oklahoma State in Houston’s 35-32 win that saw both teams pile up 500 yards offense led by competent top passing QB’s with 340 and 365 passing yards. Utah is 3-0 in conference play and Houston 3-1 with much to play for from preseason Big 12 contenders.

LSU at Auburn – Letdown looming for Auburn after the Tigers pulled off the huge upset over No. 1 Georgia, aided by a +3 turnover margin while getting out-gained by 74 yards, allowing 440 and outgained by 2 net yards per play. I bet Auburn at a better number last week and covered the matchup in our Week 7 report but didn’t include as an opinion as the line dropped. Still, this is a tough task against an LSU team that has a much stronger roster and the stats support the Tigers. LSU is both balanced and efficient on offense and features a top-tier defense, as you note in our links and rankings. LSU is the only defense in Power 4 to rank in the top five of all three opponent adjusted stats: overall defense, pass defense, rush defense. See Minnesota’s road loss as favorite at Purdue after pulling off the upset over Michigan for a long-awaited Little Brown Jug victory, or Ole Miss’ huge win over LSU and then falling flat and chomped by the Gators in Florida the next week for understanding of letdowns with Auburn still celebrating and on a high from their Deep South rivalry win. Situations, scheduling and emotions are real beyond the stats and those we provide, and LSU is just better in personnel and on both side of the ball. The Tigers will be ready with a big effort already sitting with 2-losses this season and off a 31-0 shutout win over a better MSU Bulldogs team this year.

Indiana at Michigan – Two defensive dominators and Indiana is off their first loss of the season and 22-game winning streak snapped in home loss to Ohio State, which also ended the Hoosiers 19-game home winning streak. Michigan benched their overhyped, overpaid bumbling Bro QB and freshman Tommy Carr starts this week after rallying Big Blue in the second half last week to beat Penn State, 21-18. I was down on Michigan in our preseason Big Ten preview, and thought Indiana would lose at least a few games. This could be another if the Wolverine’s offense can score even 14-17 points. It may not be easy with Indiana’s defense still No. 1 nationally in opponent-adjusted yards/play margin. The Hoosiers are also the only Power 4 program in the Top 25 of all eight of Pick Six Previews opponent-adjusted stat categories through Week 7. Still, Indiana is just 1-6 ATS and losing money for their betting backers and the Hoosiers are 0-22 in Ann Arbour since thier last road win over Michigan in 1967. When a favorite of more than a TD fails to score at least 28 points, it’s a solid bet to cash in on the underdog. I don’t project Indiana to reach that score, and especially with fewer possessions as both Michigan and Indiana rank bottom 10 of the 67 Power 4 programs in offensive pace and seconds per play (28-29 seconds) with the Minnesota Golden Gophers (31.0) slowest off all Power 4 programs. Indiana also averages just 3.7 penalties per game – fewest in the country behind only Notre Dame, but there should be more this week on the road against the more physical Wolverines. This low total also suggests we’re on a winning side with implied score of about 24-17. A slow pace Big Blue at the Big House might be working their way back.

BYU at Central Florida – Still considering UCF as ‘Dog, but their starting quarterback Barnett (hamstring) is questionable and may miss his fifth straight game. Still, as we noted about letdown, the BYU Cougars will have regroup from a massive win and celebration along with these ATS trends – Teams that beat the Irish as the underdog are 21-40-2 ATS the next week. Also, if they beat the spread by more than 14 points and are favored the next week, those teams (BYU) are just 2-18 ATS. A 40% chance of rain is in the game-time forecast as well in Orlando, potentially soaking BYU’s bid to remain undefeated with the Cougars offense also the second-slowest (31.3 seconds) in pace of the 67 Power 4 teams but facing a sub-par Knights defense (390 yards/game, 5.3 yppl). Update on Friday with line back up to BYU -7.5, and we added the UCF Knights as the situational advantage off a bye and the emotional letdown by BYU overrides some of the stats edges. It’s proven such in too many other games and situations like this already as mentioned. Recall too backup senior QB Keyone Jenkins had UCF in position to overtake Oklahoma State on the road in the 4th quarter in Week 6 before a key turnover. Jenkins passed for 265 yards (30-of-42) with 4 TD passes. The week prior UCF led Houston on the road 17-0 before falling 27-17 with Jenkins 23-of-35 for 253 passing yards. Knights will bring their best against BYU on Homecoming.

Check back Friday and ahead of Saturday games for any additions, stats and picks including totals, and my updates @FairwayJay on X for mor information you can bet on.

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